Ms Ann Doherty:

I will do as the Chairman suggests and focus on some of the key points in my statement. I thank the committee for the invitation to address it on the appropriate use of public lands. This statement addresses both land supply and its importance for housing, the most crucial issue that now needs to be addressed for Cork to continue to its growth as envisaged in Project Ireland 2040. This statement is structured to identify the major areas of publicly owned land in Cork city and the strategic priorities that will guide the continuing development of that land under the framework of Project Ireland 2040. The strategic priorities for the future development of Cork city are set out in the Cork city development plan 2015, the Cork local economic and community plan 2016 and Cork 2050, which is a joint strategic pathway developed by Cork City Council and Cork County Council as part of their contribution to the national planning framework.

Cork city is due to expand substantially in the next local elections. The area of the city will increase from 37.3 km2 to 187 km2, which is a fivefold increase. The population of the expanded city is due to grow significantly, as projected in Project Ireland 2040. Project Ireland anticipates that 50% of this increase in population must be accommodated within the existing built-up area. In tandem, the population of wider metropolitan Cork is due to expand significantly.

Lots of encouraging things are taking place with regard to economic development. These underline the urgency of addressing the housing supply shortage, the existence of which presents a whole set of challenges. Not only is the supply issue a social challenge but it is also an economic challenge. Unless it is tackled, it will clearly present an obstacle to future employment and economic growth in Cork city. Early resolution of this issue will reap long-term rewards in local and regional tourism, enterprise development and foreign direct investment, aside from the obvious quality of life and liveability benefits of a vibrant and compact waterfront city, one that is a harbour of opportunities.

To achieve these development targets, the city needs land to develop. The primary need at present is for housing and its associated infrastructure. My submission contains a table setting out an estimated total yield on zoned land based on the existing city boundary, the estimate yield without infrastructure and the potential yield from that in terms of where there is an infrastructure requirement and where there is no such requirement. Development activity in Cork city is showing strong signs of increasing after the period of recession. However, actual construction of housing and apartment developments, with the marked exception of Cork City Council's social housing construction programme, remains slow. The most active private sector is student accommodation with a number of beds under construction while planning permission is pending for others.

A presentation by Cork City Council to the Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Homelessness in July 2017 concluded that a number of issues were affecting housing supply. As the Chairman suggested, I will not go through all of them but the obvious ones are the scarcity of development land within the city boundary, a growing population, changing demographics, a tendency towards urban living, the need to build sustainable communities, a lack of investment in existing older housing stock, our autonomy in terms of decision-making and viability issues. Unfortunately, these issues remain the primary challenges with regard to housing supply in Cork city.

Focusing on public land, we have outlined for the committee in our presentation the public lands we have identified in public ownership in the current city. There are 155.15 ha of publicly-owned land. I have set out the different stakeholders in the presentation. Cork City Council owns 41.25 ha of land and we are actively pursuing development of 34.9 ha. There are two significant developments in this land. Cork City Council is the freehold owner of the landbank at Old Whitechurch Road on the north side of the city, which was assembled some years ago for residential purposes. It comprises some 22 ha on a southerly sloping green field site zoned residential in the Cork city development plan. The council has been working to unlock the potential of that land because it has some very significant infrastructure challenges such as power lines and road infrastructure. To this end, the council has committed to the local infrastructure housing activation fund to do the infrastructural work that is required to bring this land to market and development.

The landbank is a highly accessible site as it is proximal to the Blackpool retail and business park and close to the city in terms of neighbourhoods. The council's vision is for this landbank to be fully developed to provide a sustainable housing development. The landbank has an estimated capacity for 600 units or more subject to planning permission. The council envisages it being a mixed development covering all housing needs and would have an associated neighbourhood centre to balance the prevalence of social housing in the north of the city. The council also has a site at Boherboy Road, which is in the north east of Cork city. It has planning approval from the neighbouring local authority for 147 housing units. We have made an application to the serviced sites fund operated by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and it is intended to develop the scheme as a mix of both social and affordable housing. We are awaiting approval but we are very optimistic that this will be forthcoming.

The other stakeholders are listed and range from the HSE, the ESB, Iarnród Éireann, the Port of Cork and Bord na Móna to the Department of Defence, Bord Gáis Energy and IDA Ireland. Having engaged with all of these stakeholders, the council has a fairly good understanding of what their position is with regard to this land. These lands are a major resource in our city and it is Cork City Council's position that they should be brought forward for development as soon as practicable. We have already notified the Department with regard to that. We have had one meeting with the Land Development Agency and another meeting is due to be scheduled to progress our collective thinking on this. These lands are also zoned for development and have the potential to make a massive contribution to the sustainable development of Cork city. We caution, however, that proper urban design principles must be adhered to and we must future-proof to avoid the temptation to address short-term needs.

There are many underutilised private lands in Cork, mainly adjacent to the city because we have probably brought forward most lands within the city through our public housing scheme. These private lands also need to be addressed. While there have been encouraging developments recently with regard to the supply of housing in Cork owing to our enhanced delivery of social housing, there is still a significant impediment to achieving other housing solutions in the city. I hope our paper is of help. We are very available to answer any questions.